Negro League Oral History Collection
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Scope and Content Note
The Negro League Oral History Collection includes eight oral history interviews conducted in 1998 documenting the history of the Negro League in Baltimore, Maryland. Interviewees include former Negro League baseball players, family of players, members and advocates of the Negro League Baseball Players Association, a Negro League history researcher and sports advertiser, and business associates of Negro League players. Topics discussed during the interviews include the experiences of Ernest Burke, Mamie "Peanut" Johnson Goodman, Gordon D. Hopkins, and Hubert V. Simmons during their time as Negro League baseball players. Other topics include the memory of Leon Day and his induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame, interest in the League, advocacy for baseball players, and research regarding the history of Black baseball.
This collection contains a total of eight oral history interviews with associated materials, including: interviewee biographical information, tentative interview questions, transcripts, interview indices, and audio cassette tapes. All eight interview text transcripts have been digitized and are available and seven audio oral history audio interview recordings have been digitized and are available online.
Dates
- 1998
Creator
- Elfenbein, Jessica I. (Project director, Person)
Language of Materials
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Rights for this collection are held by the University of Baltimore. It makes these materials publicly available for research, personal, and educational purposes.
Historical Note
The oral history interviews in this collection were conducted in 1998 by University of Baltimore history students in Professor Jessica Elfenbein's class while working on an exhibit for the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Negro Leagues in the United States were baseball leagues made up of teams of African American and Latin American men and women. The Leagues were active at the amateur and professional levels between the 1880s and 1960s.
According to their website, the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation, Inc. aim to provide education and outreach for a diverse audience regarding the legacy of local Baltimore sports and features the history of Babe Ruth and Baltimore's Orioles, Ravens, and Colts teams. The museum also preserves the history of regional sports at the amateur, collegiate, and professional levels. According to the website, one past exhibit featured Negro Leagues history.
[Some information for this historical note was collected from the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum website: www.baberuthmuseum.org]
Extent
1.17 Linear Feet (2 containers)
Arrangement
Collection of oral history interviews is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee as an inventory.
Custodial History
The collection was transferred to Special Collections by University of Baltimore Professor, Jessica I. Elfenbein, in 1999.
Accessing Digital Copies
Digital versions of all oral history interviews and all oral history interview text transcripts in this collection are available online through this finding aid. Locate records by using the "Print" button above, or browse records in “Collection Organization." Records with associated digital objects are identified with a red Digital Object icon.
Processing Information
Collection was processed by Special Collections and Archives circa 1999. Aiden Faust digitized the audio cassettes and Fatemeh Rezaei made all digitized materials available online in 2020.
Creator
- Elfenbein, Jessica I. (Project director, Person)
- Burke, Ernest, 1924-2004 (Interviewee, Person)
- Goodman, Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, 1935-2017 (Interviewee, Person)
- Hieronimus, Robert R., 1943- (Interviewee, Person)
- Hopkins, Gordon D., 1934- (Interviewee, Person)
- Leffler, Robert V., Jr. (Interviewee, Person)
- Simmons, Hubert V., 1924-2009 (Interviewee, Person)
- Winner, Charles S. (Interviewee, Person)
- Day, Geraldine (Interviewee, Person)
- Buckman, Steve (Interviewer, Person)
- Barnett, Crystal (Interviewer, Person)
- Cottingham, Reba (Interviewer, Person)
- Crawford, Seth (Interviewer, Person)
- Cornias, Harry (Interviewer, Person)
- Lee, Stacey (Interviewer, Person)
- Ford, Talmadge, III (Interviewer, Person)
- Title
- Finding aid for the Negro League Oral History Collection
- Author
- Finding aid created by Special Collections and Archives staff. Revised by Aiden Faust (2011). Revised by Fatemeh Rezaei and Laura Bell (August 2020).
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Baltimore Studies Archives Repository
H. Mebane Turner Learning Commons, Room 104
1415 Maryland Avenue
Baltimore Maryland 21201 USA
410-837-4253
specialcollections@ubalt.edu